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Countess Stanislav
Countes Stanislav is the antagonist of the "Fairy Tale Collector", a short fantasy story told as part of the many attractions and lore of Efteling, an extremely popular and famous European theme park (situated in the Netherlands) that inspired Disney and focuses on many aspects of traditional folklore, as well as their own stories, all of which have fantastical elements and themes. History Count Stanislav was a man who loved to travel the world and collect stories to add to his Fairy Tale Library, situated in his castle, the Library was legendary for its size and magical texts - tragically one day, Stanislav would be lost at sea and left behind his young son and wife, over time his wife grew bitter and hated the Fairy Tale Library, blaming it for her husband's death. Stanislav's wife would claim "stories bring bad luck" and hid the Fairy Tale Library away before moving to a nearby village with her son, who she still loved but treated poorly due to her hatred of all things to do with stories - thus she would scold him whenever he tried to find stories. Eventually, a young girl would manage to find the Fairy Tale Library again with the aid of a magic twig, given to her by her grandfather (later revealed to be the titular "Fairy Tale Collector") - she would proceed to bring stories to the village and fill people with joy, save for the young boy - who felt jealous of her attention and thus told his mother of the events. However the boy did not realize that his mother had grown so bitter over the years that she became a wicked witch and she flew into a rage upon learning stories were once again being spread - vowing to ensure no one would ever hear stories again (because they "gave bad luck") : thus she cast a terrible curse upon the village that erased the Fairy Tale Library as well as stories as a whole, leaving everyone quiet and withdrawn, the curse also left the castle and surrounding village cast in a gloomy twilight where few animals or birds would make any noise, save for the cawing of crows, leaving a miserable existence where there was once a happy and bright comunity. At first distraught the young girl secretly follow her grandfather as he headed out and transform into the wizard-like creature known as the "Fairy Tale Collector", having decided to take matters into his own hands to stop Countess Stanislav once and for all, in his true form he brought a bunch of twigs to the young boy and told him that the twigs would teach him a new way in life (as well as telling him not to let others dictate how he should think and instead tell them to listen) before leaving. The girl would proceed to watch through the window as the boy tossed some twigs into a cauldron, revealing new stories in the process, his mother would enter and tried to scold him again only for one of the twigs to summon forth the ghost of Count Stanislav - he explained to his wife that his death was an accident that couldn't be blamed on anyone and that by getting rid of his stories she was making his life (and death) meaningless : this causes her to breakdown and admit she missed him, remorseful for her actions but claiming she couldn't undo the curse. However the young girl knew the answer as she revealed that the twigs were magic because stories travelled across the air via words, which the trees collected in their branches - thus each twig had the potential to reveal any number of stories : Stalislav's wife proceeded to gather many twigs and used her magic to undo the curse and restore stories to the world again, in the process she lost all her own magic and thus was no longer a witch. The story ends with the world now a happy place, once again full of magic and wonder, Stalislav's wife now a redeemed woman with appreciation for the stories she once tried so hard to destroy. Gallery Images stanislavs-wife2.JPG stanislavs-wife-storybook.JPG|Countess Stanislav as she appeared in the opening book. stanislavs-wife-redeemed.JPG|Stanislav's Wife's redemption. Videos Het verhaal van 'De Sprookjessprokkelaar' - Efteling Trivia *she was never officially named in the story but would be Countess Stanislav by virtue of her deceased husband. *while it may seem an abstract action for some in the context of the fairy tale setting the story is set in her plan to erase all stories from the world would ultimately cause people to live in misery and despair, since they would have no stories to share and thus no magic or happiness. *unlike many "wicked witches" in fairy tales, Countess Stanislav is a tragic character with real reasons for her evil ways, she is quick to repent after realizing how wrong she was and in the end she loses all of her former magic. Category:Tragic Category:Magic Category:Fantasy Villains Category:Female Category:Psychological Abusers Category:Redeemed Category:Parents Category:Aristocrats Category:Nameless Category:Control Freaks Category:Paranoid Category:Oppressors